Wednesday, November 23, 2016

It’s Thanksgiving week, which means time off from work, turkey and
all the fixings, football and, of course, Black Friday for those who dare to
get their shopping started. After several years of Black Friday creeping
earlier and earlier into Thanksgiving, some store chains and malls are moving
the openings back to Friday. I’m all in favor of that, but to be honest, I’ve
never been much of a Black Friday shopper.

For me, the holidays are about family and friends. It’s also about
community. This is a great time of year to think about ways to give back and do
something for others. Here are just a few thoughts:

Volunteer – Even if you have a lot of people to shop for, think about taking
some time to help out with your favorite nonprofit. Volunteers are the key
to the success of most charitable organizations. The Christmas season is a
great time to ring bells for The Salvation Army or prepare a meal at the
local homeless shelter. Giving your time and energy is a great gift during
the holidays and at other times of the year.

Plan an office
fundraiser – You can turn a work lunch into a fundraising
event or maybe plan an office
bake sale to raise money for charity. Even if you have a small office, if everyone
gets involved, the nickels and dimes do add up.

Collect food or toys – Many organizations are looking for non-perishable food donations or toys during the
Christmas season. If everyone in your workplace donates a couple of cans
of food or a toy, those items can collectively make a difference for those
who are less fortunate this holiday season.

Charitable efforts in the workplace can also lead to improved
teamwork. And you’ll also reap the benefits of knowing that you’ve done something
to help those in need.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

We can all think of at least one friend on social media who
posts too much, whether its baby pictures, political opinions, what they’re
eating or what they did over the weekend. It’s fun to see what people are up to
or what they have to say, but after a while newsfeeds seem to be flooded by the
same people, talking about the same things over and over again. As a young
professional, I understand the fun and business sides of social media, but I
don’t understand where people lose their filters and share too much. Are we
attracted to the idea of people liking our photos, being jealous of what we are
up to, or think people really care what we have to say? Let’s evaluate this
epidemic and ways to avoid being “that friend.”

I try to be cautious on social media; do we really know who is
watching our profiles? Will my boss, future employers, parents or future
children read this someday? Privacy settings change without us being aware of
it. Just because a private account on Twitter says “this account’s Tweets are
protected,” one of your followers could retweet you and other people can see it.
I once asked a colleague who I was not Facebook friends with to search my
profile because I wanted to see if my privacy settings worked. While my posts
and photos did not appear on my profile, every profile picture and cover photo
I had ever posted did. We don’t know how long our imprint on the internet will
last, so let’s leave something to be proud of. Check your accounts privacy settings
occasionally and “edit” your profile to best represent you.

For young professionals, remember to watch what we say, how
we are representing ourselves and how we represent the businesses we work for.
The freedom to share what we want, when we want and who we want to share it
with, is not exactly easy. Friends can share, tag, and mention whoever they
want without our permission. Don’t be afraid to remove the tag of yourself on a
photo or ask a friend to take down a post on social media. It they’re a good
friend, they will understand.

So how do we decide what to share with the world and what
can wait to be shared in person? Consider who will see your posts before
posting them. How will my parents or friends feel if I shared this with others?
How am I representing myself? Photos and comments live on the internet forever.
Do you want your future children reading an inappropriate comment you wrote, 20
years from now?

When I am unsure if I want to post or tweet something, I
usually don’t share it. Another option is to try waiting a few hours or
sleeping on it before posting. After a good night’s sleep, you might realize
how the post may appear to others or you may have completely different feelings
about the topic.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing your thoughts,
feelings, opinions, photos or stories with the world. Social media is an
expression of who we are, and I think our profiles should reflect our
personalities. Let’s take a step back every once in a while to evaluate what
our profiles say about ourselves.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Depending upon what side of the isle you lean, you were
either exuberant very late last night (er, um, early this morning) or extremely
disappointed. Setting the outcome aside, one lessen I think became quite clear
is how social media has changed the way politics is perceived and how it is
minimizing the impact traditional media plays in our election process.

Thinking back to the presidential elections I’ve witnessed
(sadly, a lot which shows my age) prior to social media, most citizens got
their news from just a select few national media outlets. In the early 80s, there
were three national television networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) and a few national
papers. In the 90s, that number grew with the addition of a few more national
media, but citizens had little option but to look to these outlets to get their
information to formulate their decisions.

In addition, with limited ways to get their message out,
candidates had to seek out these reporters and position their messaging to
generate coverage that would be positive for them. This gave reporters a
significant amount of influence. It also meant people placed a high degree of
trust in what was being reported and who was doing the reporting. Hence, you
had such news stalwarts as Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw who were
trusted in providing their audience with accurate information.

Fast forward to 2016 and I believe that influence has waned
significantly as candidates can now circumvent the media through social media
platforms and speak directly to their audience, without the filter or fact
checking of the media. It also allows the public to go to a variety of sources
to find information instead of relying on a “small” group of traditional media
for information.

Perhaps to some detriment, the public can also choose to
review information from sites that present information from only their
political view and don’t accurately portray the other side, leaving little, if
no, opportunity to get a full perspective of the candidates.

Whatever your political view, I think this election
highlights that social media has definitely changed the landscape of politics
and how future campaigns will be managed.